Congratulations to you both. Congratulations on falling in love unexpectedly. Congratulations on marrying unconventionally. May you live together in happiness, seeking, finding and revealing beautiful cafes forever.

Altho' by every Propriety I ought to address this Epistle to both You & Mr Meade as Wife & Husband, I cannot forbear to send a few Lines to You alone, as the one who hath giv'n me, a poor Ghost of a Man, dead these 260 Years and more, Occasion to strut upon the Stage of this, your Theatre of Topicks (as I call it).

That you, Madam, have kept this Theatre open and not shutter'd against such vagabond Spirits as may seek its Entertainments, nay its Warmth & Shelter, inclines you toward the Gratitude of your extensive Audience thus assembl'd. That you had done it so well, inclines you to Fame amongst a Multitude.

It is not therefore, Madam, that You are descended from the Great or the Wealthy, nor on the Account of the Academick Rank You hold, nor for those Charms with which Nature hath so profusely adorn'd your Person; but for those innate Graces which neither Ancestry nor Riches can give, no Academick Degrees can embellish, nor no Beauty attone for the Want of, that the World has sought You out, and daily makes, in its Measure, a Claim to your Acceptance.

That Promise which the first Years of Life gave of a glorious Maturity, we have seen compleated through your Perspicacity & Energy long before You arriv'd at an Age, which in others is requisite to ripen Wit into Wisdom, and concise the sparkling Ideas of the one with the the correcting Judgment of the other.—We beheld with Admiration, how Reason outstrip'd Nature even in the most minute Circumstances & Actions; but the Crown of all, was the happy Choice of a Partner in that State which is the chief End of our Beings.——There shone your Penetration, when among so many Admirers, You singled out Him who alone was worthy of you.—One, who is more Good than Great in the World, and yet who has given such Instances how much it is in the Power of Virtue to ennoble any State, as all must admire, though few I fear will imitate.

MARRIAGE, too long the Jest of Fools, and prostituted to the most base and sordid Aims, to You, Illustrious Pair! owes its recover'd Fame, and proves its Institution is indeed divine!

But this is no more that what every one is full of; and in writing You this, I can only boast of being one amongst the Millions who pray that Length of Days and uninterrupt'd Health may continue that Happiness to which nothing can be added, and that,

I see that Lem et. al have done a fine job of posting a playlist for the imaginary reception. (Maybe someone should put together a (digital) mixtape of these songs for the happy couple for the ride back.)

It's probably a good thing the wedding wasn't in a traditional venue, or I (bum leg and all) would have offered to lead the band for the reception. (As it is, even if they'd decided to invite the commentariat to their beautiful venue of choice in Colorado, my recently surgically-repaired knee isn't hiking up a mountain anytime soon.)

Great photos again, Althouse. And you didn't even have to pay the wedding photographer!

Although I've never heard it played at a wedding reception, I think REM's "It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine" could be appropriate as a wedding song. The world as was known by the bride and groom prior to getting hitched, is over. And yet- thanks in part to champagne and lack of foresight- they feel fine.

On the morning of our big day, my soon-to-be-spouse and I awoke to Moby's cover of "That's when I reach for my revolver" , playing on the radio. Some may have taken it as a bad omen. We call it our wedding song.

After twelve years, and no gunplay, we still feel fine. Here's to hoping that you two are able to say the same after twelve years together.

Congratulations. Extra special congratulations on the determinedly anti-Harlequin nature of your courtship and marriage. Many literate women try to write an updated Jane Austen novel, but you seem to be actually living in one.

A song which I played often in those early days (the album was released the month we met) and which I'd link here is unavailable on YouTube. It's by Adrian Belew, from "Inner Revolution" and while the lyrics alone don't really capture why I liked "Big Blue Sun" so much, in context, here they are anyway:

When the summer clouds roll around the skyAnd a strand of stars sparkle in the nightLet me take your worry from youLet me make a world around youLet me love you like nobody ever tried

When the lazy days come to lay around the lakeAnd the rays of the sun run among the wavesDon't you think about tomorrowDon't you drink a drop of sorrowDon't you look upon the past or wonder why

Let it roll down your shoulderLet it fall on the floorI'll be loving you like the water loves the shoreLet it fall from your fingersLet it go, let it comeI'll be loving you like the summer loves the big blue sun

When the summer clouds roll aroundThe stars in the nightAnd the lazy days lay aroundThe morning lightLet me take your worry from youLet me make a world around youLet me love you like nobody ever tried

Let it roll down your shoulderLet it fall on the floorI'll be loving you like the water loves the shoreLet it fall from your fingersLet it go, let it comeI'll be loving you like the summer loves the big blue sun